Method of making inlaid linoleum and the product thereof



E m H A L mm M METHOD OF MAKING INLAID LINOLEUIVI AND THE PRODUCTTHEREOF Original Filed Feb. 15, .1924

IN V ENTOR Maw/WE; a m

, M ATTORNEY lid Patented Dec. 10, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICECHARLES G. H. GLAESER, 0F NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN-MENTS, 'IO CONGOLEUM-NAIBN INC., 015 PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A COB-POBA'IION OF NEW YORK METHOD OF MAKING INLAID LINOLEUM AND THE ERODUCTTHEREOF Application filed February 15, 1924, Serial No. 692,948.

This invention concerns methods whereby automatic machinery heretoforeused to make inlaid block linoleum from single color blocks onl can bemade commercially available for ma ring a novel type of block linoleumin which some or all of theblocks are of variegated, marbled, grained orother non-uniform composition.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a diagram view indicating anautomatic machine which may be used for making block linoleum.

Fig. 2 is a plan view illustrating more or less conventionally afragment of the sur' face of a block linoleum product, the upper halfbeing complete and the lower half in process.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3, 3, Fig. 2, but on a larger scale.

In these drawings the linoleum comprises a burlap or other fabricbacking, 1, having firmly adhering thereto blocks or tesserae oflinoleum composition, in a checkerboard pattern which results from theset of dark blocks, 2, 2, 2, etc., in the spaces between which are theset of lighter blocks, 4, 4, 4, etc. In the case of ordinary blockinlaid linoleum all of the blocks, 2, 2, would be blue or black or someother single color, and all of the blocks 4, 4, would be white or othersingle color, contrasting with the color of the blocks 2. Such blockinlaid product is commercially manufactured in a manner and according toprinciples which may be more readily understood from the followingdescription of the automatic machine employed.

As diagrammatically indicated in Fig. 1, the present-day commercial'machine comprises similar hoppers, 10 and 20, containing the plasticlinoleum compositions 5 and 6, respectively; sheeting rolls 12, 1.3 and22, 23 in operative relation to the respective hoppers; and pressurerolls 14, 24, cooperating with rolls 12, 22, respectively, and producingtwo different single-color sheets, 15 and 25, each the full width andlength of the final product. lVhile still soft, the sheet 15 passesbetween a presser roll 16 and a pattern roll 17, on which the checkboardpattern is outlined by knives 18. This cuts the entire sheet intoRenewed January 30, 1929.

squares lying in pockets between the knives. By ejectors, not shown,lying in the bottoms of all the pockets, alternate square blocks 2 areejected onto a transversely traveling conveyor belt 19, by which theyare carried to the scrap room. This leaves the blocks 2, 2, in thepattern roll with vacant spaces between them exactly as indicated in thelower half of Fig. 2.

The sheet is similarly operated on by presser roll 26 in operativerelation to pattern roll 27, which has knives 28, 28, outlining anothercheckerboard pattern exactly like that of pattern roll 17 and the rolls17, 27 are geared to rotate with their knives and pocekts in exactlyregistered relation. Similarly also alternate squares 4 are ejected on atransverse conveyor 29, leading to the scrap room, but the ejectedsquares from roll 27 are the ones that register exactly with the squaresretained in the roll 17 The thus cut and spaced blocks, 2, 2, from sheet15 are transferred to the burlap or other fabric 1, on an assembly roll40, by automatic ejectors, not shown, which force the blocks 2, 2, intoadhesive engagement with the burlap without in any manner disturbing thespaced relation established by cutting out and ejecting alternateblocks. Continued movement of the burlap and the assembly roll, bysuitable gearing brings the empty spaces between these primary blocks 2,2, into exact registry with the unejected blocks 4, 4, of the sheet 25,and the latter blocks are then forced into said spaces to complete thecheckerboard pattern. Thereafter, the fabric-backed mosaic thus producedis finished by pressure perfecting the scams or joints between theblocks and by calendering to harden and finish the thus assembled blockmaterial.

The point of chief importance is that in this illustrative case, thecommercial method requires cutting out and rejecting half the materialof each sheet, a more generic rule covering all cases being that thetotal quantity of material rejected is equal in volume to one sheet lessthan the number of sheets being used to produce a selected colorpattern. This is entirely practical where the different colors for thepattern are embodied in sets of single-color blocks, because therejected single-color blocks from each sheet are kept separate from theothers, reground and used againin the sheeting hoppers, without anycomplications. The same thing is true for patterns other than squaresand where more than two sets of single-color blocks are used for morethan two colors in the pattern; also 'where the cut out and rejectedmaterial from one sheet is much greater than that from the other.However, the various products of this single-color block method are allcharacterized by hard line patterns while the present invention makes itcommercially practicable to produce'a shaded effect to soften the linesdividing the colors or to add to the decorative effect. 4

Because of the commercial necessity for reusing in the same process thelarge percentage of scrap that is being continually rejected from thesheets; together with the commercial necessity for turning out astandardized uniform product, it has heretofore been found impossible touse sets of variegated blocks in place of one or both of the abovedescribed single-color sets.

The reason for this is that a variegated reject block, when ground upfor reuse, becomes a relatively uniform mixture, either too dark or toolight, as the case may be, to serve as additional web sheet to be againvariegated by addition of lighter or darker color linoleum composition.This difiiculty is completely overcome by the present method, whichdepends upon observing certain limitations and precautions which I havediscovered are essential but which are not inconsistent with commercialproduction of a considerable variety of very artistic patterns. Thebroader aspects or phases of this method may be more readily understoodby first explaining one very specific illustrative example, whichcombines most of the points of novelty, wherein one set of blockscomprises a variegated pattern produced by rolling a ground web and,while the latter is plastic, forming a pattern thereon by rolling andsmearing along portions of the upper surface of the web sheet, arelatively small amount of plastic linoleum material in granular form,the ground web material and the granular pattern material beincontrasting shades of the same colors. By fins method, the plasticsurface inlay may be a small the material in the ground we percentage ofbut the result is in fact aninlaid pat-tern and the pat-' tern is ofparticularly pleasing novelty in addition to the contrasting effectsafforded by the darker or lighter shade inlay material. If thisspecifically novel and pleasing product be selected, there will alwaysbe a wide margin of safety as concerns regenerating the ground-uprejects to the standard shade and coloring of the ground web. It is tobe borne in mind, however, that Iam the first to conceive thepossibility of using such variegated blocks in an automatic inlaymachine and the first to observe that the ground-up rejects give apeculiar brilliancy to the product by reason of the fact that thecommercial grinding does not homogenize, but merely commmutes and mixesthe differently colored particles so that they 've to the casual eye arelatively uniform i A more general idea of the principle of theinvention and of the essential characteristics thereof, whereby inlaidblock linoleum of variegated patterns ma be successfully commerciallymanufacture by means of the automatic inlaying machine, is to be hadfrom a reading of the following description and from a study of theaccompanying drawing.

Firstly, the predominant essential is that the base or ground color ofthe linoleum, as determined by the color of the material in the hoppers10, 20, from which the base sheets 15 and 25 are produced, must be ineach case a shade selected within the limits imposed by several factors.For instance, the ground color for one set of variegated blocks, as 2,must be a shade such as is producible from a mixture of the coloredground sheet material 5 after it has been ground up with its much darkerinlay material 7. Similarly, the ground color for another set of blocks,as 4, must be such shade as is producible by a mixture of the color ofground sheet 6, with the color of inlaid material 8. Thus, if inlay 7 isdark blue, the ground color of sheet 5 must be a shade of blue.Secondly, the amounts and shades of the darker linoleum material 7 inthe one case or 8 in the other case, must be proportioned to the amountsand shade of the basic sheet linoleum materials 5 and 6, respectively sothat the change of shade or eneral appearance produced by the regrindingof the waste material and its introduction again into the basic sheetmay be corrected and restored b the addition of linoleum material of theot 161 pure color.

Marbleized or variegated linoleum patterns may be formed in one ofseveral we. 5. More particularly, they may be formed by consolidatinglumps of linoleum of different colors which are intermingled in thehopper and simultaneously fed to the sheeting rolls. Another way ofproducing other greatly superior and more controllable effects may becalled the plastic inlay method indicated in the drawings. By thismethod the sheet while in the plastic state, has rolled into it lines orlumpsof plastic linoleum comp0sition of another shade, as 7 or 8. Suchmaterial is supplied intermittently or in small lumps either by hand orby conveyors 50, 60, Fig. 1, and is forced in the sheets by rolls 14 and24 so as to form an inlay pattern that is much softer in artistic effectthan can be obtained by the block inlay method. Moreover,

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such plastic inlay can he further and more artistically softened byrotating the roller 14 or 524i at a difi'erent speed from thecooperating roller 12 or 22, so that the inlaid material is draggedalong the sheet, producing a striated or grained eflect. In whatevermanner the variegated sheets and blocks are formed, however, myinvention is equally applicable in all cases to make possible thecontinuous production by means of the automatic inlaying machine, ofhlock inlaid linoleum embodying such variegated patterns.

By considering the above and other special cases, it will be seen thatthe principle of the invention consists in predetermining thepredominant or hase color of the sheet and the color of the variegatinginlay and the amount ot the variegating inlay material with reference tothe percentage of scrap rejected in the suhsequent block-inlay process,for the purpose and with the result that the ground up scrap may berestored to the original predominant or hase shade by the addition oflinoleum material oil lighter or darker color, in

" amount not greater than the-amount which has gone into the making ofthe preceding linoleum product.

lt will he evident that my method of regenerating the rejects ot inlaidlinoleum used in the hloclr linoleum method is capable of widevariation. The combinations of light and darlr shades tor the plasticinlay sheets may he varied. widely within the limits above indicated andone or more plastic inlay sheets may he used in combination withsingle-color sheets. Moreover, the above rules may he applied and a verydesirable product ohtained where the colors in the hase sheets and 6 arenot mixed to a uniform shade. For instance, the proportions oil colorsrequired by the present method may be supplied to a hopper to or 20, insmall lumps ot linoleum composition of different colors so that theresulting hase sheet 5 or tl will he a more or less striated shade otthe same color as is the case in the socalled jaspe linoleum. The tactthat the materials are not mined to a sin le uniform shade until thereject material is reground, does not prevent practice of the method. Inthis connection, it may he noted that one ol the preferred productsresults trom usin a striated or jaspe sheet having undesirahly hlurredstriations ot different shades ot the same color, in comhination with aplastic inlay ot pure color. lhis has the elloct of changing the jaspehlur etlect to an artistic shading tor the pure color inlay.

However, in certain cases the plastic inlay "l or 8 may not he a purecolor linoleum composition and in tact may he omitted altogether as toone or all ot the sets at hloclrs; and one or all oil the sets othloclrs ol linoleum composition may he dill'erent colors or shades inwhich the striated inlay results trom the above descrihed method oilusing lumps ol linoleum material of different colors in the same hopper,as, for instance, in hopper 10 or in hopper or in both.

One skilled in the art experimenting with this principle will findcertain special cases where part or all of the rejects from one set ofblocks may be utilized as one of the constituents of the sheets fromwhich the other set of blocks is cut, and in a still more special case,it is possible that the ground up rejects from the lighter set of blockswill he the exact shade of one of the constituents of the darker set ofblocks, without the addition of any corrective color material. It willthus be seen that in the case of two sets of variegated block involvingfour or six linoleum compositions each a different shade of the samecolor, it is only necessary that the rejects can all be made usable forone or more of the primary constituents by the addition of no more ofthe colored linoleum material than is being used up in making thefinished product.

From the above it will he understood that according to the principles ofthis invention, black and white as well as dark and light linoleummaterial may he considered and used as colors within the meaning ot thespecification and claims; or they may be con sidered and used as meansfor lightening or darkening the shade or other linoleum materials of anycolor.

ll claim:

l. The method of continuous production of variegated machine inlaylinoleum having a plurality of diderent sets 0t blocks, each setcomprising similarly colored hlochs, which method includessimultaneously and continuously forming separate primary sheets otlinoleum composition, each sheet correspond ing in coloring and width toone ol'" said sets of blocks in the completed product; complementallycutting and rejecting from each primary sheet blocks corresponding insize and location to the blocks retained trom the other sheet or sheets;interfitting the complemental blocks ot all the sheets in their originallocation and spacing to form a single continuous sheet of inlaidlinoleum; grinding the rejects from each sheet and using each set ofground rejects in an endless repeating cycle as a base tor tormingfurther continuous lengths of the same primary sheet from which theywere rejected; at least one oi said primary sheets heing variegated byrolling the same from non-unitormly dist rihuted linoleum compositionsthat are ditlerent shades ol the same color, composition ot one ot theshades predominating in amount and composition ol the other shade orshades heing in controlled smaller amounts, the relative amount ol thelatter being such that the composition predominating in amount can hereproduced when using in the reproduction suhstantially all oi theground rejects ti-om the primary sheet together with t'resh linohitllltl ltlli lllll llh leum composition not greater in amount than theamount of the primary sheet which has been utilized in the formation ofthe sheet of inlaid linoleum.

2 The method of continuous production of variegated machine inlaylinoleum having a plurality of different sets of blocks, each setcomprising similarly colored blocks, which method includessimultaneously and continuously forming separate primary sheets oflinoleum composition, each sheet corresponding in coloring and width toone of said sets of blocks in the completed product; complementallycutting and rejecting from each primary sheet blocks corresponding insize and location to the blocks retained from the other sheet or sheets;int-erfitting the complemental blocks of all the sheets in theiroriginal location and spacing to form a single continuous sheet ofinlaid linoleum; separately grinding rejects from each primar sheet andusing substantially all of the ground rejects in endless repeatingcycles in forming further continuous length of the respective primarysheets; at'least one of said primary sheets being variegated and formedby rolling the same from non-uniformly distributed linoleumcomposition-comprising a predominating amount of composition of onecolor and smaller controlled amounts of composition of one or morevariegating colors, the relative amounts of the respective compositionsbeing such that the composition predominating in amount can bereproduced in the required amount and color .When using in thereproduction substantially all of the ground rejects from the primarysheet.

3. Variegated-block machine inlaid linoleum comprising a plurality ofdifferently colored sets of blocks, including at least one set of blockshaving a variegated pattern, said blocks of variegated patternconsisting of linoleum composition comprising an intimate mixture ofdifferently colored compositions affording a standardized color eifectfor said set, and relatively smaller amounts of non uniformlydistributed variegating composition of colors contrasting with saidstandardized color, the first-mentioned composition being characterizedas consisting chiefly of the reground particles from blocks that weresimilarly Variegated by linoleum compositions in the same amounts andcolors.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this 14th day of February, A. D. 1924.

CHARLES G. H. GLAESER.

